KANEOHE, Hawaii — In late August, the Honolulu Police Department reported arresting 14 hikers on the Kaneohe side of the Haiku Stairs. 

All of the hikers face criminal charges for trespassing.

According to a DLNR news release, the hikers reached the top of Haiku Stairs via the Middle Ridge Trail (also known as the Backside to Stairway) in the Moanalua Section of the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve. 

Although the removal of Haiku Stairs is on hold because of litigation, stair cleats that secure the stair modules to the hillside have already been removed by helicopter. 

Hikers used ropes from the top of the Middle Ridge Trail to get down to where stairs are still attached to the side of the mountain. 

However, Friends of Haiku Stairs, the nonprofit pursuing a lawsuit to halt the removal of the stairs, said in an email to Spectrum News Hawaii that the stair modules have not been removed from Haiku Stairs, but instead were removed from Moanalua Saddle. They also said ropes were not used to descend from the summit, because the stairs still reach the summit. 

"Per court order, contractors were only authorized to remove stair modules along the Moanalua Saddle," the Friends of Haiku Stairs said.

Spectrum News Hawaii asked DLNR spokesperson Dan Dennison for clarification, who said, "we relied on the information we received from law enforcement."

When asked for comment, the Honolulu Police Department spokesperson Michelle Yu said, "At DLNR’s request, we provided them with the arrest stats." 

Ian Scheuring, the Deputy Communications Director for the Office of Mayor Rick Blangiardi, said "the Haiku Stairs lead from the base in Haiku Valley to the summit, but there are also stairs on the back side of the summit that lead to the same place, just from Moanalua Valley." 

"The contractor began removing the stairs on the Moanalua Valley side first, and all the stairway modules that have been removed so far have been on the Moanalua Saddle side of the summit, not the Haiku Valley side," Scheuring continued. 

He said the Mayor's office refers to removal of all the stairs as the "Haiku Stairs Removal Project" and does not distinguish between the two sides. 

Scheuring also said he did not have information about the ropes. 

“The nuances are somewhat meaningless as the hikers were still charged for being on the stairs and how they got there doesn’t change the facts,” said Dennison, the spokesperson for DLNR. “We’ve asked repeatedly for people not to use the Middle Ridge trail due to extreme damage to the natural resources.”

On Aug. 30, DLNR reopened the Moanalua Section of the Honolulu Watershed Reserve while a lawsuit fighting the dismantling of the stairs went through the courts.

The area had been closed since June 12 to stop people from accessing the Haiku Stairs. 

When the area was reopened, DLNR officials asked hikers to avoid ascending the Middle Ridge Trail. Hiker activity had caused erosion that was damaging the native forest. It is also not an unofficial, unmaintained trail. 

“It is dangerous for people to enter the construction zone and dangerous for them to try to descend the ridge,” said DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla. “They need to think about the consequences if someone gets hurt, or worse, and needs rescue. It is a difficult place for first responders to reach, which could delay medical treatment. Plus, it’s incredibly disrespectful and self-centered for anyone to be on the Haiku Stairs, or on the Middle Ridge Trail, when it’s been made abundantly clear that these areas are off-limits for safety and natural resource protection reasons. They fail to consider not only the risks they’re taking, but the risks emergency teams face when having to rescue people who are breaking the law.”

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with information from the Friends of Haiku Stairs, DLNR, HPD and the City and County of Honolulu. (Sept. 13, 2024)